Spring structure



Aug. 26, 1930. c. c. MEUTSCH SPRING STRUCTURE Filed June 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 1.

gnuenfo'o 81km I m q S Aug. 26, 1930. c. c. MEUTSCH SPRING STRUCTUREFiled Jun 9. 1928 2 sheet -sheet 2 afforucqs I on'burla'p eliminates thenecessary marking 45 eliminating the sewing-operation;

Patented Aug. 26, 1930 UNITED STATE-S:

crimes 0. MEUTSCH, or BUFFALO, New Yea: I

Application filed J me 9,

v This inventionrelates to a spring structure andmethod of producing thesame, and [more particularly to such a structure which isparticularlyadapted for use in furniture 5 and automobile upholstery, mattresses,cushions and the like, and in whichhelical springs are employed each ofwhich is housed within an independent separate cloth "pocket or housingandanumber of springs andtheir" 1o housings are arranged'side by side toform a grou the upholstery. v

One of theprincipalobjects is to provide anindepen'dent individualhousing for each 5 of the helical springs by means of which the springsand their ousings may readily bearranged to form a springstructure'of"any desired configuration; Thus if it is necessary to leave a void,inthe structure to accommo-' 20 date an arm or other part of thefurniture frame the individually housed springs can be left outiin thisplace. 7 By thisjmeans the assemblyof spring structures in odd shapes isgreatly facilitated.

'A'furtheri'objectisto substitute for the burlap 'backings generallyemployed} in housed sprin structures, a plurality of cords 1 whichextenacross the spring structure and diametrically across the ends ofthe indi- .i Q vidual spring housings and tie the corresponding edges ofthe housings together. -j Such a method of tying the structure 150'?gether has been found to be markedly superior to the usualbu'rlapbacking in point 0 135 wear "and in "addition ermits individualhousings to be cut away f rom therest of'the' I group without alterationof the rest, when a I completed structure isbeing fitted to an iriregular shaped pieceof furniture or the like. Furthermore, tying of thesprings by means g I vention is composed ofa group of upholstery 0fcords inc'ontradistinctiontosewing them of the'burlapeand also greatlyfacilitates the operation of assembling a springstructure'by}.Individua11y&housed springs use lend themselves more readily to use onrounded surfacessuchas the curve of the upholstered] arms'of a loungesince theycan'be re'adlly 1 tied to conform to the curvature thereof. I

of springs which yieldingly support I V ual, independent housing inwhich the end coils of the spring bear against a double thickness ofmaterial thereby in its condition.

1928. Serial no. 284,255.

A still further aim is to provide such a housing which can be quickly,readily; and accurately 'sewedwith an expenditure of a t minimum amountof time, labor and material, thereby permittingof producing thestructure at low cost.

o-FFIC Another purpose is to provide such a hous-;

, greatly" increasing the wear of the pocket Other purposes are toprovlde such a spring structure which will provide a coinfortable'cushion 3 and which will withstan'd severe conditions ofwear'withoutalteration i In the accompanying drawings:

, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a spring 'structure made inaccordance with my invention and 1 showing the I same slig'htly'-compressed; Figure 2 is a cross section through one cloth pocketorhousing showing a spring "arranged therein, "Figure 3 is a 'fragmentarytransverse section through a pai'r of ;pockets, the section being takenonline 33,

Fig; 2. Figures le-7 are perspective views vshowing successive stages inthe sewing of the cloth pockets; Figure 8' is a vertical section throughthe back of an upholstered f chair, showing the rnanner in} which astrucf .,ture made inaccordance-withthe present ining or'pocket which isreadily'filled with its vention is. adapted to furniture injwhich thecover is buttoned to the' framef at intervals Similar reference"numerals refer to like parts in each of the several views; I In itsgeneral: organizatlon the "present 1nsprings each h'oused within anindividual independent cloth pocket or hou'sing and the group of housedsprings being joined by a' pluralityiof cross cords on-oppositesides ofthe vstructurewhich cross cords are tied to "each of the housedspringsat each quarter.

manner shown in Figs. 4-7, this operation being as follows:

A strip of cloth 11 is marked into lengths as indicated at 12 andbetween these marks is provided with gage marks 13 which divide thestrip into three parts, a bottom part. 11, ashort end 11", and a longend 11. A second strip of cloth 14, of the-same length as the lengths ofthe strip 11 is then folded over to form a loop and its opposite endsare brought together and placed along one edge of the strip 11, the loopextending transversely across the strip 11, as best indicated in'Fig. 4.The strips are then runthrough a sewing machine and the ends of thestrip 14 are sewed to the edge of the strip llby stitches 15. Inproduction, the sewing is continued along the edge of the strip 11 andthe operator of the 'sewingmachine places the strips 14 in properrelation before the needle passes over the marked part 11. The strip 11is then cut into lengths along the marks 12.

The strip 14has previously been marked as indicated at 16 so as todemarcate two side parts 14 and 14 and an upper central part 14j,atoneside of which the strip is folded. The loop formed by the strip 14 isnow opened up, as indicated in Fig. so that a bottom part 14 lies on thebottom part of 11 of the strip 11, the sides 14 and 14 rise fromtheledges of the strip 11 and the upper part 14 is arrangedhorizontally.

The short end 11 of the strip 11 is then brought u and its end arrangedunder the correspon ing edge of the upper part 14 as shown in Fig. 6.Thereafter-the long leg .11 is brought u and over the upper part 14 andits end p aced in alinement with the opposite ed e of the upper part 14of the str1p14. T epocket is then sewed,the stitchcs 17passing-throughthe endsof the strip 11 and the edge of the upper part 14of the othenstrip. a

The upholstery spring 18 is then com- ,rprwsed and passed through one ofthe four openings at the corners of the pocket. The spning is thenplaced in proper position and released, the ends of the spring bearing,against'the upper and lower parts 14 and .14 ofthe pocket which arereinforced by the upper and lower parts 11 and 11 which overlay and aresecured tothese parts. By

thisimeansitwill be noted that by two sewing operations anindividualpocket is provided 1' zwhwh has reinforced ends and full flexibilityatits sides. Moreover, the-operation of making the pocketis extremelysimple and can'be .done rapidly and efiiciently by, one not perticularlyfikilled at such work.

In-using the springs inupholstered furniturmunattresses or the like,theseveral springs areitled together and placed in the center ofitheamattress oronithe supporting frame of the furniture. in t8isillustratedaacon- *i-riweMidM1'form1of ichair back composed of a theyare inalinement in bot cord or strmg 26 1s passed through the outerpockets and the spring therein.

wooden frame 19, back webbing 20 supporting main back springs 21, andburlap coverings 22 and 23 over the webbing and the springs.

The spring structure forming the subject matter of the present inventionis adapted to impartgreatcr softness and is placed over the burlap cover23, the upper end of the spring structure bein curved over the upperside of the chair frame. The usual stufling 24 is then placed over thespring structure and the whole covered by the usual cover 25.

To form the spring structure, the several individual, independent springpockets are grouped together as shown in Fig. 1 so that directions. A

side. of one of the marginal pockets and under the outermost coil of thespring 18 therein.

The cord 26 is then tied at this point as best shown in Fig. 3 and ispassed diametrically over the pocket and is passed through the cornersof the adjacent pockets, around the corresponding end coils of thesprings thereon and tied, thereby securely tying the two Ina similarmanner, a complete row of spring pockets are tied together, the rowbeing tiedat its opposite or under side in the same manner by cords 26.together in the same mannerby cords 27 and 27 which are arranged atright angles to the first cords and tie the spring pocketsintransverse-rows.

. :If a springstructure of irregular outline is desired, it isapparentthat any number of the spring pockets 10 maybe left out to makethe structure conform to the desired shape.

Thus, as shown in Fig. 1,if it is desired to have the structure fitabout a projecting arm or the like,-.the spring pockets'may be left outto'form an indentedcorner or side. If also, in making furniture in whichthe cover is buttoned down atspaced intervalsto form a pillowed surfaceinstead of the usual smooth upholstered surface, one of the springpockets 10 at the center of 'the structure can readily be left out andthe cover drawn into the voidleft thereby. Such a construction isindicated in Fig.8 in which one of the spring pockets 10has been leftout at the center of the structurcfand the cover drawn into the voidleft thereby and secured to the burlap backing :23 bymeans of abutton28.

It is apparent that such irregularities may .be provided for either byleaving the spring pocketout in the course of manufacture, or the samemay be cut. out after the spring structure isassembled; In the lattercase the spring pocketor pockets to be removed are out free withoutdisturbing the rest of the structure.

If-itiis desired to have the structure curve, as aindicatediin FigQS' inwhich the structure curvesiaroundthelback ofthe ch air, one set of 1 Theseveral rows are-then tiedcords is tied so as to leave a length of cord29 between the rows of pockets at the place where the structure curves,the cord being quires relatively unskilled labor to produce the same.

I claim as my invention: H

1. An independent, individual cloth housing for a helical springcomprising two cloth strips arranged at right angles to each other,

the ends of one of said strips being sewed to an intermediate partof theother strip and the ends of said last named strip being sewed togetherto form a loop. c

2. An independent, individualcloth housing for a helical springcomprising two cloth strips arranged at right angles to each other, theends of one of said strips beingsewed to an intermediate part and alongone edge of the other strip, and'the ends of said last named stripbeingsewed" to an intermediate part and along one edge of the firstnamedstrip'thereby to form two loops which are united at their oppositeends and are adapted to enclose the spring. a a p 3. An independent,individual cloth housing for a helical spring comprising two clothstrips of substantially equal length,=the ends of one of said stripsbeing sewed to an inter- .mediate part and along one edge of the otherstrip, and the ends of said last named strip being sewed to anintermediate part and along one edge of the first'named strip, saidstrips thereby forming two loops adapted to receive the spring and beingarranged to form" double thickness parts'against which the end coils ofthe springs bear.

4. A method of forming an individual, inl V dependent cloth housing fora helical spring. comprising sewing the ends of each of-a plurality ofcloth strips at spaeedintervalsalong another strip, cutting saidlastnamed strip into lengths substantially equal to the length of eachof said firstnamed strips, each of said lengthshaving one of said firstnamed strips cutting said last named strip into lengths substantiallyequal to the len h of each-of said first named strips,each 0 ing one ofsaid first named strips secured thereto; and sewing theends of said lastnamed lengths of strip to one edge of the loop formed by said firstnamed strip;

6. A method of forming an independent said lengths haveloth housing fora helical spring comprising 1 folding a strip of cloth and placing it atright angles over another strip of cloth sothat the ends ofsaid foldedstrip are arranged along one edge ofthe other strip and'the loop there-7 of extends across said last named strip, sewing the ends of saidfolded strip to the edge of said last named strip, placing the ends ofsaid last named stripon opposite sides and at one edge ofan-intermediate part of said folded part and sewing the ends ofsaid'last named strip tothe intermediate part of said folded strip; i

In testimony whereof I hereby aflix my signature. a 1

' CHARLES C. MEUTSCH.

secured thereto; andthereafter sewing the ends of the lastlnamed lengthsof strip to an I a 'intermediate part of the loop formed by said 1 afirst named strip.

5. A method of forminganind'epen'dent I cloth housing fora helicalspring comprising sewing the ends ofeach of a plurality of cloth stripsat spaced intervals along another strip, i

